"HE SAID WHAT?!" Winton's voice echoed. Jack nodded while being surrounded by some of his friends "That's what he told me but I don't believe it" Jack said as he sighed "Even he wouldn't be mean enough to just use Bluey. Especially not just to get some sort of self-satisfaction " "What if he really is telling the truth?" Rusty said exasperated. "I refuse to believe it!" Indy was surprised at Rusty "How could you say that?" Rusty groaned "Because he could've been playing us this whole time, all of us" Indy shook her head "I refuse to believe it, I just can't" Rusty turned away "Yeah, you've never been a teen boy so you wouldn't know. I know because that's exactly what Digger did with one of the girls he knew" "Your brother? He did that?" Joe had asked somewhat surprised. Rusty nodded "Maybe we can talk to him, if he is lying we could get the truth out of him" Indy suggested. Jack shook his head "He hasn't spoken to anyone and I don't think he's left his home either" Indy looked a bit hopeful "We need to talk to him!" "No way! You know how long I've wanted those two to get together? Now it happens and he decides to hurt her like that?" Winton said, crossing his arms "If he won't leave his home then it's fine by me!" Rusty nodded "I'm with you there" Indy looked at both of them and grabbed their hands "Please! You don't even have to do any of the talking, just come with me!" Rusty rolled his as as both boys groaned "Fine, I'll go" Winton nodded. Joe looked at her "Why do you think he'll talk?" Indy smiled at him "I don't, but I have to try"
Mackenzie was walking alone in a dark area, he didn't give it much thought nor did he care, he grumbled to himself before he heard an all too familiar voice calling out to him "KENZIE! HELP ME!" he heard Bluey and something about her voice let him know she was in serious danger "Bluey?!" "Is that bastard hurting her?!" he thought as he began sprinting and trying to follow the sound of Bluey's screams. He made it to Bluey's backyard as he saw Bluey by herself, she was facing away from him and towards the trampoline "...Bluey?" he asked as he slowly approached her. "...get…away…" Bluey spoke in a weak voice. Mackenzie tried to touch Bluey but she quickly moved away from him "Bluey, what's the matter?" he tried approaching her again, only for her to turn and face him, she looked afraid. "What happened?" Bluey had a fearful look in her face as she tried getting away but was now cornered by him. Mackenzie quickly looked around to see if Bluey was trying to hid from anyone, only for there to be no one else in the backyard with them. "Is she…scared of me? But she called me to help her!" Mackenzie thought. Mackenzie began to move closer to Bluey, she began to breathe faster with each step he took. He wanted to hug her, to let her know that everything was okay, but he was surprised to find his own hands around her neck "W-what am I doing?! I need to let go!" He tried forcing himself to let go of Bluey but he couldn't. Bluey struggled to get out of his grasp while she was struggling to breathe "Please…Kenzie…I love you" Mackenzie became desperate to let go of her but his grip seemed to tighten. Soon Bluey stopped struggling, her body would twitch and convulse as she was losing her breath "Ma…ken…"
"BLUEY!" Mackenzie yelled as he quickly jolted up, he quickly looked around to discover that he was having a horrible nightmare. He sighed out of relief then laid back down on his bed "Should've known it'd be that dream again" he heard knocking on his bedroom door and slowly got up, he walked over to the door and reached for the knob, however before he could reach it, someone else opened the door. Indy and Jack quickly walked into his room, with Rusty, Joe, and Winton walking in behind them. "What's all this then?" Mackenzie asked, while he was happy to see his friends he pretended to be peeved that they entered without asking. "We need to talk about whatever the hell is wrong with you" Rusty said, unlike Mackenzie he was genuinely annoyed. "Rusty, now's not the time" Indy said as she looked at him. Rusty shook his head "It's pointless Indy" Jack gave him a look "How about Indy and I talk to him and you and Winton go wait outside?" Rusty nodded "Fine" Rusty and Winton walked away, Joe sat on the floor in Mackenzie's room. "Why are you three here?" Mackenzie asked. "Come on, you know what this is about" Joe responded "What's going on with you?" Mackenzie turned his head towards the terrier "What do you mean by that?" Jack gritted his teeth "Cut the crap already! Why did you break up with Bluey?" Mackenzie rolled his eyes "I already told you Jack, I was just using her, can't any of you understand that I didn't actually care? That I was just pretending to get what I wanted?!" Indy groaned and looked at the other two then she pulled them together and whispered "I know you want to help but I think you boys should go out" Jack raised an eyebrow "Why?" Indy looked at Mackenzie then back at her friends "He might feel less pressure if it's just me here, i know I asked everyone to come with but I have a new idea" Joe looked at her confused "And this idea will get him to talk? He's being pretty stubborn" Indy nodded "Trust me Joe, I think this will work, just need you guys out of here" both boys nodded at her and began to walk out the room, leaving Indy alone with Mackenzie.
Mackenzie looked at her confused, while all she did was smile back at him "Shouldn't you be leaving with them?" he asked. Indy shook her head "I told them to leave" she responded. Indy then slowly walked towards Mackenzie and sat on his lap. Mackenzie looked at her confused "W-what are you doing?" Indy quickly shushed him and leaned against him "You know" she spoke in a deeper, calmer tone "I was really hoping that, we could do some of the same things that you did with Bluey" she said as she ran her finger across his chest "What are you saying?!" he asked as he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach "Come on now, I could be a very good girl just for you….Kenzie" Mackenzie felt chills go down his spine as he moved Indy off his lap. "Aww what's the matter? Are you feeling nervous about us being in your own house? Your own bed?" "What the hell has gotten into her?!" Mackenzie thought as Indy made suggestive motions with her body "Or am I not good enough for you" she asked as she winked and moved closer to Mackenzie. Mackenzie's eyes widened as he quickly stood up "O-okay Indy! Woah! I-I'm sorry but I'm not into you like that!" Indy looked at him with a slightly sad expression "Really? But I figured I would be, especially if I let your friend feel special" she smirked as her eyes traveled towards his groin. "ALRIGHT!" Mackenzie quickly walked to his door, opened it, then looked around to see if anyone else was inside, seeing how everyone else was gone, he sighed and closed his door "Don't want anyone to hear us huh? Don't worry I can be quiet" Indy said as she walked over to him and began to move her lips closer to his. Almost instinctively, Mackenzie moved away from Indy "Indy…please stop!" Indy looked at him then pinned him to his own bed "Stop? But we haven't even started" she aid as her tail wagged slowly. "You're Bluey's friend! Don't do this!" Indy frowned at him "Bluey? Who needs her?" Mackenzie's eyes widened "I-I'm sorry, alright! Is that what you want to hear? I'm sorry I was being rude a minute ago!" Indy smiled at him and moved her hand down past his chest "OKAY! I'LL TALK!" Mackenzie yelled. Indy giggled and got off him "Good, because that's exactly what I needed to hear" Mackenzie was worried at the thoughts of how far Indy was willing to go, it became clear to him why she told the others to leave. "Was all of that necessary?" he asked her. She shrugged and looked at him "It's as necessary as whatever you're doing to Bluey, you know, the girl who's heart you yanked out!" Mackenzie lowered his head "I don't know what youre talking about" Indy rolled her eyes "You are clearly still very much in love with Bluey"Mackenzie shook his head "I'm not" Indy smiled "I know an act when I see one Border Collie, that's why I just gave you one of my best performances" Mackenzie raised an eyebrow "You were willing to do all that?" Indy nodded "Well I do think you're kind of cute, but I already have my heart set on someone else" she shrugged "But when it comes to someone like you, I can be very willing" Mackenzie's eyes widened.
"I just want the truth Mackenzie, Bluey loves you, you clearly love her, so then why?" He scratched his head "And how would you be so sure" She laughed "You didn't want to talk to anyone and you haven't left your house in days, you're depressed, and you wouldn't be depressed if you didn't care" Mackenzie dropped to the floor and began to sob, Indy looked sad and placed a hand on his shoulder "Why won't you tell us what's wrong?" Mackenzie shook his head "I can't" he responded quietly. "But why?" Indy asked, confused. Mackenzie sniffled "I…just can't" Indy kneeled next to him and hugged him then she whispered "Tell me the truth, do you love Bluey?" Mackenzie nodded "With all my heart…" Indy looked at him confused "I don't understand" he sighed "Maybe one day" she got up and walked towards his door before she turned back and looked at him "Well…I hope everything turns out okay" "Indy?" Mackenzie asked. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him "Yeah?" Mackenzie gave her a soft smile "Do you like Rusty?" Indy giggled "Maybe I do, maybe I don't, I'll tell you when you tell me more about what it is you're doing" He nodded "This will sound odd, but don't tell Bluey that I still love her, don't tell her anything about what I said, don't tell the others either" Indy nodded "Bluey would probably kill me if I told her about what happened" Mackenzie raised an eyebrow "Why's that?" Indy smiled "You think she'd be okay if I told her that I was all over you just to get some answers?" Mackenzie chuckled while he wiped his tears "You're right, don't think she'd take that well at all"
Indy left his room then went back outside where she was greeted by the others. "So, did your idea work?" Joe had asked. Indy shrugged "Kind of? I mean he calmed down and he did say he had a reason" "Did he tell you what the reason was?" Indy shook her head "He said he couldn't tell me the reason for now" Rusty sighed "I knew it" "But-" Indy continued "He did say he'd tell me one day" Winton looked at her confused "Then what was even the point of coming over here? This was a waste of time!" Rusty nodded in agreement before Indy glared at the two of them "Have neither of you noticed that his actions don't add up with his words?" "What do you mean?" Joe asked. Indy looked at them "If he really and truly did not care about how he made Bluey feel then he'd be out and about like if it was just another day to him" Jack gasped "But…he's been home and in his room all day for these past few days" he turned towards Rusty. "You think he at least has some guilt over his actions?" the red kelpie asked. Winton nodded "I think maybe he regrets doing what he did, but if he does, why doesn't he just go back to her and make it up to her?" Joe began to walk back to Mackenzie house "I'll try to convince him" Indy quickly grabbed him "No wait! I think he needs time by himself, maybe he's trying to figure something out" "I agree, he was like this when we were playing space back at Calypso's one time as well" Rusty said. "I remember that! He said he wanted us to abandon him, then he got better after a few minutes" Jack stated.
Mackenzie looked at the group of friends from his window, he could make out bits and pieces of the conversation and laughed a bit when he remembered the time when he was playing space, and by extension when he thought that his mother had abandoned him. He then sighed when he turned and looked at a picture of him and Bluey happy together. "I need to think of some way out of this" He remembered he had dreams where things happened to Bluey, and he was the cause. He figured they must've been a result of his immense guilt and the pain he held in his heart. He wished he could have gone to someone for help, but he couldn't even go to his own parents simply due to the fact that they'd probably let it slip that he had told them and they'd probably accidentally tell someone else word would get back to Chucky who would find a way to hurt or even kill Bluey. He was twisted enough already so there was no saying what he'd do or what would cause him to snap anyway.
After a few minutes Mackenzie's dad would walk into his room and hand him a tray of food "Dinner's ready" Mackenzie nodded and spoke in a low voice "Thanks dad" His dad nodded then after a few seconds he spoke to him "You know, your mum told me" Mackenzie's eyes widened "Told him what? She can't possibly know that Bluey's being threatened ""What did she tell you?" He had asked a bit curious. His dad looked at him "She told me you broke up with Bluey, I asked if she was sure and she said that she heard a bit of your conversation with Bluey. Mackenzie let out a sigh of relief "Well that's better than what I was thinking" Mackenzie's dad began to leave his room "Dad, wait" his dad then turned around to look at him "Yeah? What's up" Mackenzie took a deep breath and kept his eyes on the food in front of him "What do you do, when you do something to help someone else, but it makes you feel awful and even your own friends think differently of you because the thing you did seemed pointless and seemed to come out of nowhere?" His dad looked at him confused for a few seconds "Well, i'm not really sure, but have you tried explaining your reasons for doing whatever it was that you did" mackenzie nodded slowly "There's no real way to put it into words" He was careful to avoid saying that he did it to protect someone, that would lead to more questions and more frustration from having to tell someone that he just couldn't explain it to them because he risked the person he was trying to protect getting hurt, physically at least. "That's just how tough it is" he told his father. His father sighed and tried to think of a way to help "Well…I'll be honest if it's as vague as that then all i can say is that the best thing to do is to ride it out until whatever is happening passes" Mackenzie looked at him "But how will I know when it passes?" He saw the sadness in his son's eyes as he patted him on the head "There's always the option of going against what you wanted to do, it may not be helping the person anymore, but if it brings you happiness then it may very well be worth it." Mackenzie nodded again "Thanks, dad" His father would then walk out of his room and leave him to himself. "Even he doesn't know what I should do, and it doesn't help that I can't tell him either" he took a small bite out of his food, he knew it had a flavor and a smell that he would usually enjoy, however with various things on his mind he couldn't taste or smell anything. He then began to chuckle to himself "I used to laugh at those people on tv who got depressed when they had break-ups in movies…now look at me"
"Have you gotten a call from any of the others yet? How is Bluey doing?" Rusty asked Indy. Indy checked her call log only to see nothing new "Nah, nobody's called yet so I guess everything's fine" she put her phone away as the small group sat together at a park. "Mackenzie, are you in trouble and you just can't tell us?" Indy thought as Joe walked to the group with some drinks. "You know I was wondering, why did you have to be alone with him, Indy?" Winton asked. Jack nodded "Oh yeah, you asked Joe and I to leave didn't you?" Indy had to think of something, but she didn't want to tell them that she had to trick Mackenzie by pretending that she was trying to seduce him. "O-oh, I felt like he wouldn't calm down with so many of us in the room at once" she said with a smile. "Yeah right, I bet you wanted some quality alone time with him and that's how you got the answers" Joe responded. He may have been joking, but his response was eerily close to what she told Mackenzie that it caused her to choke on her drink "Joe, what the hell dude? That's not really appropriate, besides if she did that then she'd have some kind of death wish" Rusty responded. Joe laughed awkwardly "But why? Bluey and Mackenzie aren't dating anymore" Jack had rolled his eyes "That's beside the point…"
Rusty got up and started to walk away from the group "Hey, what's up?" Winton asked. "I need to ask Mackenzie something, you guys should stay here, I won't cause any trouble" he said as he started heading back towards Mackenzie's house. "Should we follow him?" Jack asked Indy nodded "Yeah okay, just to make sure he actually stays out of trouble" the rest began to follow after Rusty just to see how things were going to go. Rusty would then knock on the front door of the house then enter once the door was opened, he then went into Mackenzie's room without bothering to knock. Mackenzie was startled by the sudden appearance "Can I help you?" he asked. Rusty shook his head "nah, i want to help you" Mackenzie raised an eyebrow out of confusion "You do? With what?" Rusty smiled at him "Come on, you think I like knowing one of my buds is all sad and depressed?" Mackenzie looked at him "Well I guess not but-" "It's something you can't talk about, I know, Indy said she couldn't get you to talk and I'm not going to try either" Mackenzie was surprised "Wait…really?" Rusty nodded "I was being unfair earlier when i was angry at you, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that you probably weren't telling us your side of the story as well, and Jack told me how he knew that you were lying" Mackenzie tilted his head "Oh yeah, how did he know?" Rusty laughed a little "You think I'm going to tell you that? You'd just try to control the habit and make things harder for everyone" Mackenzie nodded "Fair point, so if I can't tell you anything, how are you going to try to make me feel better?" he asked. Rusty hugged Mackenzie "I may not know what's going to happen, but I have strong hope that things are going to work out for you and Bluey'' Mackenzie smiled "Thanks ""Is there something that you could probably tell me that you couldnt tell Indy?" Rusty asked, Mackenzie shook his head. Rusty nodded and looked at him "We've been friends for a very long time, I can't just let you suffer in silence without doing anything. Just know that I've got your back" Mackenzie nodded "Sorry that it made you mad, but why did you get mad?" he asked Rusty. Rusty sighed "Because my brother Digger did the same thing to some girl he was dating for a long time, said that he wanted nothing to do with her afterwards. Unlike you though he wasn't sad about it." Rusty shrugged "Once Indy pointed out how sad you were, I guess I had sympathy for you" "Well I'm glad that you've calmed down then Mackenzie responded. "By the way" Rusty said "Indy was in here longer than we expected, did anything happen while we were gone?" Mackenzie thought back to how Indy was treating him earlier "Nothing! Nothing happened!" He said. Rusty began to walk back out the room "Anyways, see ya later mate" Mackenzie waved "Yeah, see ya"
The rest of the group was standing out the house, listening to something Joe was telling them "And that's why Adam is banned from all of Glasgow" Winton looked at him with wide eyes "Well that was…a story" Rusty walked over to them "Wait, what did I miss? Adam is banned from glass?" Joe laughed "No, Glasgow, it's a whole city" Rusty nodded "Oh, you'll have to tell me about that later" Winton groaned "If we know that we misunderstood Mackenzie then what are we even still doing here?" "That's a fair question" Jack said. Once again, the group began to walk away from Mackenzie's house.
It remained quiet for a while until Indy's, Jack's and Winton's phones began to ring in sync. "Hello?" Indy answered "Indy! Where are you right now?" Coco said over the phone, she sounded panicked and like she was out of breath "I'm with everyone else near Mackenzie's house…is everything okay?" "Hey they're all together, hang your phones up!" Coco yelled at Snickers and Chloe who had called Jack and Winton. After they hung up Indy put her phone on speaker "What's going on?" Indy asked. Coco took a few seconds to catch her breath "L-listen, it's Bluey…she's missing again!" The group became shocked upon hearing this "She wasnt kidnapped again was she?!" Joe asked. "No" Coco said "The thing is…some juice got on her fur, then she kept talking about how it looked like blood, then she started acting really strange and she ran away" Chloe told them. "Did she say anything else?" Rusty asked. "All she said was desert, then she started acting feral and she ran away on all fours!" Lucky told them. "We need to split up to find her!" Coco said. "Any ideas where she was headed?" Indy asked. "No, sorry" Coco responded "But if you see her be extra careful" she said. "Why's that?" Jack inquired. "She may attack, she…killed a cockatoo then attacked Judo before she ran off" This would frighten them "Is Judo okay?" Winton asked, afraid that Bluey might be too dangerous to deal with. "I'm fine, it was just a small scratch. If you find her, let everyone else know!" Coco said as she hung up.
"We need to split up, that way we can cover more ground and find her quicker!" Jack said. "What if she attacks? If she's on all fours I don't think we'll be able to outrun her" Winton said "We're dogs too, if she can run on all fours then so can we! If she chases you, lead her back to her house" Joe said as he ran in a different direction than the group "Good luck!" Soon each dog had went their own routes to find their blue friend with Jack sprinting as fast as he could, he was not going to fail Bluey a second time. Some of the others had decided to ask other dogs if they had seen the blue heeler nearby. Most of the dogs had told them that they hadn't seen her and the ones that did see her said that they quickly lost sight of her since she was darting around the place as if she was trying to escape something or someone. Rusty came across a few dead lorikeets and cockatoos "Did Bluey do all of this? Scary" he thought as he dashed away. Indy ran in the direction of Bluey's home, she was hoping that Bluey had returned to her senses and would be back, she would soon be disappointed to find that Bluey had yet to return. Joe would run across Dan and the two told each other everything they knew about the distance they had covered. Judo would search in the park while Lucky would search near Calypso's old school. Each dog would search for around two hours, growing worried with each passing minute for Bluey. Some of the dogs would even cross paths with each other and let the other know where they had checked.
Growing more worried they nearly considered checking to see if Bluey had managed to get out of Brisbane, that is until their phones had started to ring again. Upon answering they heard Snicker's voice on the other side of the phone "Um…guys, Winnie and I managed to find Bluey but…" he sounded a bit scared "It looks like she's looking for something" Winnie stated. "Where are you two?" Coco asked. "We're…at Bingo's old kindy" Winnie said. "Which of you two is the faster runner?" Jack asked. "Winnie is, wait why?" Snickers responded. Jack sighed "Winnie, you're going to need to aggravate Bluey, then make her chase you back to her house" "ARE YOU CRAZY?1" Chloe yelled "BLUEY MIGHT HURT HER" Jack sighed "I know, I'll try catching up to-" "Shit…" Snickers said quietly. "What's wrong?" Rusty asked "B-Bluey? Bluey! I'm here to help, I'm not going to-" Snickers screamed. "Hey! Snickers! What's happening?!" Winton yelled. "Change of plans, Bluey's chasing Snickers and is ignoring me! All fours Snickers! All fours!" Winnie yelled "Uh, I'll try staying close!" Winnie said as she hung up the phone. "Everyone! We need to wait at Bluey's house!" Lucky said. "You guys do that, I'm going to help" Jack said hanging up his phone.
Snickers ran as fast as he could, however Bluey was catching up very quickly, Snickers then remembered what Winnie had told him and as awkward as it was for him, he began to run on all fours. "Sheesh Bluey, no wonder Chloe would never race you, you're too fast!" he said as he did his best to stay away from Bluey. Snickers did his best to avoid getting into any traffic since he didn't know whether Bluey would stop or not. He turned his head to get a look at her "Bluey please!" he was shocked to see Bluey with rage in her eyes, while having what looked like blood on various parts of her body, and mud on her hands and feet. "Where do you get the energy for this?!" he asked as he was getting tired. "Snickers look! It's Jack" Winnie said as they were approaching Jack, who was looking around for them "Over here!" she shouted. Jack turned and quickly held something up "BLUEY!" he yelled. Bluey stopped for a second to see Jack holding a dead cockatoo. The smell found it's way to Bluey's nose and she soon had her attention focused on Jack. Jack began to sprint at amazing speeds towards Bluey's house, it wasn't far now. Bluey growled loudly as she chased him. Snickers finally stopped running to catch his breath. "Let's go sausage boy!" Winnie yelled as she followed Bluey and Jack. Snickers groaned as he began to run on two legs again. Jack managed to stay ahead of Bluey and managed to reach Bluey's front yard before he threw the dead bird towards her front door. Bluey immediately pounced on the dead bird and began to sink her teeth into it. The other dogs managed to catch up and they were all in shock at what they were witnessing. "Hey…didn't she say that this is what she basically did in the desert?" WInton asked. Coco gasped "You're right" Chloe took a step forward "This could be…PTSD" Indy was confused "But, what could have triggered it?" Winnie's eyes widened "The red juice…she said it looked like blood…now it all makes sense…"
The dogs quietly surrounded Bluey before she quickly turned around and growled at them all "B-Bluey? Why are you acting like this, you are Bluey arent you?" Judo giggled nervously, while trying to joke. "No!" Bluey responded, shocking the other dogs. "She spoke!" Lucky said "Bluey, are you okay?" he walked a little closer. Coco quickly grabbed him "Look at her eyes, she's behaving like a predator" Coco pointed out how Bluey's pupils were constricted as she quickly looked past the group as if searching. "Bluey, we want to help you….what are you looking for?" Bluey opened her mouth slowly and spoke in a strained voice "...Muck…" "Muck? What does that mean?" Dan asked. "Bluey, are you looking for your prey?" Bluey bared her fangs at everyone and nodded slowly as her eyes began to water. "She seems to have some understanding" Rusty said "But she said that she isnt Bluey" Jack responded confused. "You're not Bluey?" Coco asked to see her response. "NO!" Bluey yelled at her "Then, who are you?" Chloe asked. She remained quiet for a few seconds "...night…" Winton walked closer to her. Snickers pulled him back "She said she's looking for her prey, she might hurt you" Indy stuck her hand out in front of Bluey, making the other dogs worried "What is your prey?" Bluey had a confused look on her face as she sniffed Indy's arm for a few seconds. Bluey's eyes widened as she backed away with a sad look on her face, she seemed to be back to her usual self until- "...kenzie?" Bluey quickly snarled, having picked up an odd scent off of Indy "KENZIE!" she howled as she knocked Indy over and began to sprint again. "Bluey wait!" Indy yelled as Bluey quickly got out of everyone's view "We're going to lose her again!" Joe said. "No, I know where she's going…" Judo said as everyone looked at her "Think about it, she said muck, then she said kenzie" Lucky's eyes widened "She's angry and she called him prey, d-do you think she might hurt him?" Chloe gasped "If she's really mad…she may do more than hurt him!" Indy began to run "Lucky! Jack! Rusty! We need to stop her! We need to let Mackenzie know!" The three boys followed Indy, they needed to find a way to catch up to Bluey in time, before anything horrible happened.
Another chapter comes to a close, the next chapter will be a different point of view from this chapter so some of the dialogue will be the same, either way Bluey said some odd things, how do you think this will turn out?